The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal.
BANKSY
BANKSY
More from Banksy
Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.
BanksyBanksy Keep your coins, I want change.
BanksyBanksy If Michaelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci were alive today they’d be making Avatar, not painting a chapel.
BanksyBanksy Anyone who believes in capital punishment should be shot
BanksyBanksy If you feel dirty, insignificant or unloved, then rats are a good role model. They exist without permission, they have no respect for the hierarchy of society, and they have sex 50 times a day.
BanksyBanksy People are fond of using military terms to describe what they do. We call it bombing when we go out painting, when of course it’s more like entertaining the troops in a neutral zone, during peacetime in a country without an army.
BanksyBanksy I don’t think you should have to pay to look at graffiti. You should only pay if you want to get rid of it.
BanksyBanksy If you want someone to be ignored then build a life-size bronze statue of them and stick it in the middle of town. It doesn’t matter how great you were, it’ll always take an unfunny drunk with climbing skills to make people notice you.
BanksyBanksy There are four basic human needs; food, sleep, sex and revenge.
BanksyBanksy Live as a villain, die as a hero
BanksyBanksy At this time of year it’s easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity – the lies, the corruption, the abuse.
BanksyBanksy Stencils are good for two reasons; one – they’re quick; two – they annoy idiots.
BanksyBanksy Graffiti is only dangerous in the mind of three types of people; politicians, advertising executives and graffiti writers.
BanksyBanksy Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.
BanksyBanksy Is graffiti art or vandalism? That word has a lot of negative connotations and it alienates people, so no, I don’t like to use the word ‘art’ at all.
BanksyBanksy Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world I can’t even finish my second apple pie.
BanksyBanksy
Original quotes
From our community writers
They bleed not in the mouth but through their ink – indelible and dark.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia I would rather shoot my arrows than keep them in my bow, I would rather risk it all than risk nothing at all.
ShamaShama I wish I knew then all of the things I know now that I am enough.
TMCTMC I feel like I’m on fire, fighting for a moment on respite – I’m not placing bets.
M.K. StandbyM.K. Standby I found him in all the chaos, and that was when my world started making sense again.
MoomerMoomer The judgement that people cast on you for how you do or do not appear is nothing more than just a projection of their own wounds.
Taj AroraTaj Arora Be grateful for what you have now, even if it’s not everything you wanted.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis It seems strange how we look in the same mirror, yet what stares back, is so painfully different.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin
More on stealing
It’s obvious you shouldn’t steal, kill or be cruel.
Black FrancisBlack Francis If you wan to steal money, don’t rob a bank – open one.
Bertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht The publicity image steals her love of herself as she is, and offers it back to her for the price of the product.
John BergerJohn Berger If there is no God, why bother to tell the truth? Why not steal?
Ben SteinBen Stein You steal the limelight, you steal the market share
Barbara CorcoranBarbara Corcoran We are obliged to steal pieces of language, both visual and textual.
Barbara KrugerBarbara Kruger I began stealing a lot of ideas from other directors I had worked with.
Adam RappAdam Rapp Tell anyone and everyone your idea without fear they’re going to steal it.
Aaron PatzerAaron Patzer